Project of the Day: ‘The Happy House’ is Anything But.

Project of the Day: 'The Happy House' is Anything But.

Here’s your daily dose of an indie film in progress; at the end of the week, you’ll have the chance to vote for your favorite.

In the meantime: Is this a movie you’d want to see? Tell us in the comments.

The Happy House

Tweetable Logline:
It’s the B&B you always dreaded, and that’s on a normal day.

Elevator Pitch:
A young Brooklyn couple whose relationship is on the rocks heads upstate to a remote B&B to work things out. The plan is ill conceived from the start. Arriving at The Happy House, they soon begin to suspect they’ve wandered into a real life horror movie. From there events go from weird to terrifying as they contend with the house’s batty owner, her imposing son, a moody Swedish lepidopterist, a pedantic English professor, an extraordinarily rare butterfly, the world’s best blueberry muffins, a .44 Magnum, a demented serial killer, and one very strict rulebook.

About the Production:
“The Happy House is an ambitious mix of theater and genre. It takes place almost entirely in one big house with a zany set of characters and many absurdist and drawing room comedy elements. Much of the mise-en-scene openly embraces this theatricality, with long takes and staging for depth. However, The Happy House is also part horror movie, and as the comedy breaks down there’s a bold visual shift to a darker and looser style (much of the film is lit exclusively by candlelight). What results is both a celebration and subversion of genre convention.” – Judith Mizrachy